1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to industrial conveyor systems, and more particularly to an adjustable guide rail system for use with industrial conveyor systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conveyors are used in numerous industrial plants for moving product packages from one processing station to the next. For example, a conveyor system may be used to move a liquid container through a packaging line where it is cleaned, filled, capped, labeled, coded, weighed, and packed. To make efficient use of expensive investments in machinery and resources, industrial plants generally run batches of different products. Because these products may be of different sizes and shapes, the guide rails of the conveyor system often needs to be adjusted between product batches.
Currently, guide rail adjustment is a time consuming process. On conveyor lines where manually adjustable brackets are used, each bracket along the conveyor line must be individually adjusted for a new batch of items being moved. In general, adjusting one of these manually adjustable brackets involves loosening a locking device, moving the guide rail to the desired position, and tightening the locking device. This adjustment process is repeated for every guide rail support on each side of the conveyor along its length. When working with multi-lane conveyors, it is often difficult for plant personnel to access the manually adjustable bracket for inner lane guide rails. Manufacturers have looked for various solutions to overcome the time wasted on these adjustments; however a simple, economical, and low-complexity solution that allows for rail adjustment across a range of package sizes has been elusive. Manufacturers have therefore largely retained the use of manual guide rails.
As can be seen therefore, the development of an inexpensive, fully adjustable, guide rail would reduce the setup time required between product batches within many industrial plants in which products are moved along a conveyor system. The adjustable guide rail in accordance with the present invention satisfies that need, as well as others, and overcomes deficiencies in previously known guide rail adjustment methods.